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Wednesday, 19 July 2017

ANC WANTS SADC SWAZI RIGHTS PROBE

South Africa’s African
National Congress has called for Swaziland to be investigated by SADC for abuse
of human rights.

King Mswati III rules
Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are
banned from taking part in elections and political dissent is crushed by the
Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA), even though the Swazi
High Court has declared it unconstitutional.

Reporting on the outcomes
of the international relations commission at the ANC national policy
conference, chairperson Miriam Segabutla said the people of Swaziland were
suffering “gross human rights violation”.

The commission recommended
that the ANC explore mechanisms of strengthening its solidarity campaign on
Swaziland and formalise the party-to-party relations with the People’s United
Democratic Movement (Pudemo), Swaziland’s best-known political party.

Segabutla added the
commission also supported the call by the people of Swaziland for the unbanning
of political parties and the release of all political prisoners, and that the
issue of Swaziland be placed before the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
for intervention.

In 2014 the United States withdrew trading privileges from Swaziland under the Africa Growth Opportunity
Act (AGOA) because the kingdom had
not fulfilled all the requirements of the programme, including respect for
human rights.

The US
wanted Swaziland to implement the full passage of
amendments to the Industrial Relations Act; full passage of amendments to the
STA; full passage of amendments to the Public Order Act; full passage of
amendments to sections 40 and 97 of the Industrial Relations Act relating to
civil and criminal liability to union leaders during protest actions; and
establishing a code of conduct for the police during public protests.

Amnesty International in April 2015 renewed its criticism
of Swaziland for the ‘continued persecution of peaceful political opponents and
critics’ by the King and his authorities.

The human rights organisation called for both the STA
and the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act (SSAA) to
be scrapped or drastically rewritten.

It said the Swazi authorities were using the Acts, ‘to
intimidate activists, further entrench political exclusion and to restrict the
exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful
assembly.’